test
    n 1: trying something to find out about it; "a sample for ten
         days free trial"; "a trial of progesterone failed to
         relieve the pain" [syn: trial, trial run, test,
         tryout]
    2: any standardized procedure for measuring sensitivity or
       memory or intelligence or aptitude or personality etc; "the
       test was standardized on a large sample of students" [syn:
       test, mental test, mental testing, psychometric test]
    3: a set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or
       knowledge; "when the test was stolen the professor had to
       make a new set of questions" [syn: examination, exam,
       test]
    4: the act of undergoing testing; "he survived the great test of
       battle"; "candidates must compete in a trial of skill" [syn:
       test, trial]
    5: the act of testing something; "in the experimental trials the
       amount of carbon was measured separately"; "he called each
       flip of the coin a new trial" [syn: test, trial, run]
    6: a hard outer covering as of some amoebas and sea urchins
    v 1: put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental
         use to; "This approach has been tried with good results";
         "Test this recipe" [syn: test, prove, try, try out,
         examine, essay]
    2: test or examine for the presence of disease or infection;
       "screen the blood for the HIV virus" [syn: screen, test]
    3: examine someone's knowledge of something; "The teacher tests
       us every week"; "We got quizzed on French irregular verbs"
       [syn: quiz, test]
    4: show a certain characteristic when tested; "He tested
       positive for HIV"
    5: achieve a certain score or rating on a test; "She tested high
       on the LSAT and was admitted to all the good law schools"
    6: determine the presence or properties of (a substance)
    7: undergo a test; "She doesn't test well"

Test \Test\, n. [OE. test test, or cupel, potsherd, F. t[^e]t,
   from L. testum an earthen vessel; akin to testa a piece of
   burned clay, an earthen pot, a potsherd, perhaps for tersta,
   and akin to torrere to patch, terra earth (cf. Thirst, and
   Terrace), but cf. Zend tasta cup. Cf. Test a shell,
   Testaceous, Tester a covering, a coin, Testy,
   T[^e]te-[`a]-t[^e]te.]
   1. (Metal.) A cupel or cupelling hearth in which precious
      metals are melted for trial and refinement.
      [1913 Webster]

            Our ingots, tests, and many mo.       --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Examination or trial by the cupel; hence, any critical
      examination or decisive trial; as, to put a man's
      assertions to a test. "Bring me to the test." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Means of trial; as, absence is a test of love.
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            Each test every light her muse will bear. --Dryden.
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   4. That with which anything is compared for proof of its
      genuineness; a touchstone; a standard.
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            Life, force, and beauty must to all impart,
            At once the source, and end, and test of art.
                                                  --Pope.
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   5. Discriminative characteristic; standard of judgment;
      ground of admission or exclusion.
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            Our test excludes your tribe from benefit. --Dryden.
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   6. Judgment; distinction; discrimination.
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            Who would excel, when few can make a test
            Betwixt indifferent writing and the best? --Dryden.
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   7. (Chem.) A reaction employed to recognize or distinguish
      any particular substance or constituent of a compound, as
      the production of some characteristic precipitate; also,
      the reagent employed to produce such reaction; thus, the
      ordinary test for sulphuric acid is the production of a
      white insoluble precipitate of barium sulphate by means of
      some soluble barium salt.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. A set of questions to be answered or problems to be
      solved, used as a means to measure a person's knowledge,
      aptitude, skill, intelligence, etc.; in school settings,
      synonymous with examination or exam; as, an
      intelligence test. Also used attributively; as a test
      score, test results.
      [PJC]

   Test act (Eng. Law), an act of the English Parliament
      prescribing a form of oath and declaration against
      transubstantiation, which all officers, civil and
      military, were formerly obliged to take within six months
      after their admission to office. They were obliged also to
      receive the sacrament according to the usage of the Church
      of England. --Blackstone.

   Test object (Optics), an object which tests the power or
      quality of a microscope or telescope, by requiring a
      certain degree of excellence in the instrument to
      determine its existence or its peculiar texture or
      markings.

   Test paper.
      (a) (Chem.) Paper prepared for use in testing for certain
          substances by being saturated with a reagent which
          changes color in some specific way when acted upon by
          those substances; thus, litmus paper is turned red by
          acids, and blue by alkalies, turmeric paper is turned
          brown by alkalies, etc.
      (b) (Law) An instrument admitted as a standard or
          comparison of handwriting in those jurisdictions in
          which comparison of hands is permitted as a mode of
          proving handwriting.

   Test tube. (Chem.)
      (a) A simple tube of thin glass, closed at one end, for
          heating solutions and for performing ordinary
          reactions.
      (b) A graduated tube.
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   Syn: Criterion; standard; experience; proof; experiment;
        trial.

   Usage: Test, Trial. Trial is the wider term; test is a
          searching and decisive trial. It is derived from the
          Latin testa (earthen pot), which term was early
          applied to the fining pot, or crucible, in which
          metals are melted for trial and refinement. Hence the
          peculiar force of the word, as indicating a trial or
          criterion of the most decisive kind.
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                I leave him to your gracious acceptance, whose
                trial shall better publish his commediation.
                                                  --Shak.
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                Thy virtue, prince, has stood the test of
                fortune,
                Like purest gold, that tortured in the furnace,
                Comes out more bright, and brings forth all its
                weight.                           --Addison.
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Test \Test\, n. [L. testis. Cf. Testament, Testify.]
   A witness. [Obs.]
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         Prelates and great lords of England, who were for the
         more surety tests of that deed.          --Ld. Berners.
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Test \Test\, v. i. [L. testari. See Testament.]
   To make a testament, or will. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster] Test

Test \Test\, Testa \Tes"ta\, n.; pl. E. Tests, L. Testae.
   [L. testa a piece of burned clay, a broken piece of
   earthenware, a shell. See Test a cupel.]
   1. (Zool.) The external hard or firm covering of many
      invertebrate animals.
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   Note: The test of crustaceans and insects is composed largely
         of chitin; in mollusks it is composed chiefly of
         calcium carbonate, and is called the shell.
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   2. (Bot.) The outer integument of a seed; the episperm, or
      spermoderm.
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Test \Test\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tested; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Testing.]
   1. (Metal.) To refine, as gold or silver, in a test, or
      cupel; to subject to cupellation.
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   2. To put to the proof; to prove the truth, genuineness, or
      quality of by experiment, or by some principle or
      standard; to try; as, to test the soundness of a
      principle; to test the validity of an argument.
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            Experience is the surest standard by which to test
            the real tendency of the existing constitution.
                                                  --Washington.
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   3. (Chem.) To examine or try, as by the use of some reagent;
      as, to test a solution by litmus paper.
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   4. To administer a test[8] to (someone) for the purpose of
      ascertaining a person's knowledge or skill; especially, in
      academic settings, to determine how well a student has
      learned the subject matter of a course of instruction.
      [PJC]
      [1913 Webster]

test
 n.

    1. Real users bashing on a prototype long enough to get thoroughly
    acquainted with it, with careful monitoring and followup of the results.

    2. Some bored random user trying a couple of the simpler features with a
    developer looking over his or her shoulder, ready to pounce on mistakes.

    Judging by the quality of most software, the second definition is far more
    prevalent. See also demo.

test
testing

    The process of exercising a product to identify
   differences between expected and actual behaviour.  Typically
   testing is bottom-up: unit testing and integration testing
   by developers, system testing by testers, and user
   acceptance testing by users.

   Test coverage attempts to assess how complete a test has
   been.

   2. The second stage in a generate and test search
   algorithm.

   [Jargon File]

   (2003-09-24)

TEST. Something by which to ascertain the truth respecting another thing. 7 
Penn. St. Rep. 428; 6 Whart. 284. Vide Religious Test.